The present invention relates to a packaging blank for forming containers with curved or rounded edges.
Many consumers prefer to purchase cigarettes and other products in boxes rather than soft packages. Among the reasons for this preference is the fact that a box tends to protect its contents somewhat better than a soft package. One disadvantage of boxes, however, is that they may have sharper and stiffer edges than a soft package. This may increase the wear on accessories (e.g., handbags) or articles of cloth (e.g., shirt pockets) in which the box is carried. Many customers have also been found to prefer the "softer" feel of containers with curved or rounded edges.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,955,531, 5,064,409 and 5,073,162 describe a container blank having a plurality of parallel, closely spaced score lines formed on the outside surface of the blank at the intended location of each curved or rounded edge. When the blank is subsequently bent to form the container, some of the bending deflection occurs at each score line on the outside surface. Accordingly, the overall bending deflection is distributed over the outside score lines, with the result that the edge is gradual or rounded, as desired.
However, the gradual or rounded edges of the prior art containers have at least one disadvantage in that these rounded edges tend to slightly open after the blank is bent into container shape. Such opening of the rounded edges tends to outwardly bow the opposite sidewalls of the formed container which makes container closure more difficult.
Furthermore, the high speed processing required for manufacture of large quantities of quality product requires a minimum of frictional engagement between the product and the machinery which is acting on the product. This is so for many reasons, including wear and tear on the high-speed machine parts, energy losses through excess frictional losses, and damage to the product as it passes through the high-speed apparatus.
Appearance of a consumer good is of extreme importance to a discriminating consumer. If a package has damaged overwrap, packaging with tears or crimps in the cardboard, or obvious wearing along edges, it is most likely to be rejected by a consumer.
With the elimination of the bowing of the side walls of rounded-corner packages, much of this friction is reduced. This allows for easier transit of the package along the wrapping and cartoning processes, reduces wear and tear along the indicia or advertising on the package surfaces, and causes a freer flow of the product. This freer flow may result in fewer jams, and the resultant stoppage of work with concomitant losses in productivity generated thereby.